Cardiff City 0 - 0 Ipswich Town: Bore draw increases Bluebirds' lead

CRAIG BELLAMY had revealed ahead of this fixture it was his “final great ambition” to get Cardiff City into the Premier League – but there is still a long way to go before the bunting is put out to greet the finest in the land.

CRAIG BELLAMY had revealed ahead of this fixture it was his “final great ambition” to get Cardiff City into the Premier League – but there is still a long way to go before the bunting is put out to greet the finest in the land.

It would be churlish to criticise Cardiff too much as this point – however tediously earned – means they are 10 clear of third-placed Leicester with 19 games of the Championship campaign remaining.

After all, barring the defeat to Peterborough last month, this was the first time Cardiff had dropped points at home this term.

But this was probably the poorest fare seen at the Cardiff City Stadium all season, with neither goalkeeper called into serious action on a bitterly cold afternoon where the most demanding task was avoiding catching pneumonia.

The driving rain gave way to sleet in the closing stages, by which point a goalless stalemate was inevitable, even if David Marshall pushed aside a Frank Nouble effort which might have been straying wide anyway.

Bellamy was always Cardiff’s best source of inspiration – and perspiration – as he tried to summon up the moment of magic which would finally break the Ipswich resistance.

But even the Wales striker fluffed his lines after being set up by Craig Noone after 52 minutes and that handy knack of nicking winners when not at their best finally deserted Cardiff after four straight league wins.

Maybe, though, this result should have been expected.

Cardiff had won at Ipswich back in October when Paul Jewell was presiding over the Tractor Boys’ dramatic fall from grace, but there had been no Bluebirds double in this fixture for 66 years.

And since that 2-1 win at Portman Road, current Ipswich boss Mick McCarthy had overseen a revival in East Anglia which had brought seven wins in 13 league outings and only four defeats.

Statistically, Ipswich might have possessed the poorest Championship defence on the road – 27 goals conceded – but McCarthy has made them a much tougher nut to crack and Cardiff had misplaced their sledgehammer well before the final whistle.

The nearest they came was actually the work of a blue-shirted defender, Bradley Orr almost diverting Aron Gunnarsson’s centre into his own net and requiring a fingertip intervention from goalkeeper Scott Loach to spare his blushes.

Gunnarsson might have won it in the final quarter when he met Craig Conway’s cross but the Icelandic international sent his header over from seven yards.

In some ways that misguided finish was symptomatic of a contest which never hit the heights.

Lee Martin’s rash tackle on Noone inside the opening 15 seconds might have suggested visitors cast in the image of their manager – a former no-nonsense centre-half – and a torrid contest to come but, in truth, it was only the introduction to a tepid first half which Ipswich shaded until the final 10 minutes.

With the sturdy frame of Guirane N’Daw dictating matters from the base of the Ipswich midfield, there was little opportunity for Cardiff to build a customary head of steam with Bellamy and the recalled Rudy Gestede often cutting isolated figures up front.

In a first half devoid of entertainment one of the most memorable moments was provided by Michael Chopra, the former Cardiff striker ‘doing the Ayatollah’ as he warmed up on the touch-line.

Ipswich were tidy in possession – befitting a side which McCarthy has dragged out of the relegation zone since replacing Jewell at the start of November – and N’Daw sent a wickedly swerving shot across Cardiff bows and onto a post from 35 yards after Carlos Edwards had cut infield and linked with Luke Hyam.

Bluebirds anxiety was underlined when the usually unflappable Mark Hudson misjudged a cross and David McGoldrick reached a loose ball to toe it past Marshall, but also wide of the post.

Conway drove wildly over the bar after Bellamy had scampered down the left, but Cardiff did not finally stir from their slumber until the final 10 minutes of the first period when Noone and Peter Whittingham were able to deliver dangerous crosses.

The capacity of Loach to flap like a tent in the wind was a source of Cardiff comfort, but it was still a half to forget as the home players trooped off to growing murmurs of discontent from the stands.

It didn’t get a great deal better in the second half after Bellamy missed out and Matthew Connolly had to call on his defensive know-how to ease Aaron McLean out of the play after N’Daw headed downwards into a congested six-yard box.

Having replaced the ineffective Gestede at half-time with Joe Mason, perhaps harshly omitted after his winner at Birmingham on New Year’s Day, Bluebirds boss Malky Mackay was able to call on Tommy Smith for the first time since October 23.

Smith has been out with a hamstring injury all that time but he came on for Noone for the final 20 minutes or so and might yet prove a crucial figure in the remaining months of the season.

To their credit, Cardiff kept going and Gunnarsson’s header might have won it, but Ipswich began to sense there was a winner there for them in the dying minutes.

Edwards saw his shot deflected over and substitute Nouble, briefly a Swansea City player in his well-travelled career, brought a save from Marshall before dragging another effort wide.

But neither side could genuinely claim they deserved all three points.